Bible Study Seattle

Were are we in history? We are currently a mix of the Roman Empire and Christ’s Empire.

“You, O king, were watching and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary radiance, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome.  The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its chest and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.  You continued watching until a stone was broken off without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.  Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed to pieces all at the same time, and they were like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the entire earth.” Daniel 2:31-35

This is a sweeping view of history from about 586 BC to well past our day – probably 3,500 years or so! We are still in the time of the iron and clay, the Roman Empire. But there has begun a fifth universal empire which is growing in strength day by day. It will gradually crush the Roman Empire (also sometimes referred to as mystery Babylon – Babylon encompasses all of the first four empires – Babylon, Medo-Persian, Greece, Rome).

Right now (circa 2022 AD) people are losing faith in the major institutions of society. This is part of the crushing process. These institutions will not be fully eliminated in the next several years, but they will come down a major notch. Jesus may be opening people’s eyes, but the full end of evil must wait several more centuries.

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.  Just as you saw that a stone was broken off from the mountain without hands, and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is certain and its interpretation is trustworthy.” Daniel 2:44-45